Here’s What Inspired Nate Bargatze’s First Movie, THE BREADWINNER

Published: May 19, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Comic Nate Bargatze told Movieguide® all about why he wanted to make THE BREADWINNER for the whole family.

“That’s why I think a big part of it was I wanted to…I have one daughter. We have three daughters [in the movie]. It’s like even though I don’t want to go too far out of my realm, it’s like you want to just make it where it’s clearly not my exact family,” he explained to Movieguide® at the movie’s red-carpet premiere.

The movie allows him to create a whole new landscape for his comedy.

“I’ve been so tied to every story I tell; it’s like there’s truth into it and I exaggerate it. So in this movie, we have that and inspirations from that, but then being able to kind of start some new problems that I don’t currently do, I don’t have to deal with in real life,” Bargatze said.

What brings in the funny family elements are the crazy moments that everyone remembers.

“I always think, too, it’s stuff that you’re going to talk about…with your siblings and say, ‘Remember when we did that?’…It’s like you’re trying to create those kind of memories. That’s the idea of all this stuff,” the comedian said.

He wants families to enjoy it and relate to it.

“You can look at your dad and say, ‘That’s what you would have done’ and vice versa,” he continued. “And so I think that’s a great way to bond families. I just know that’s what we do, so hopefully everybody else does that too, and they all come out to this movie.”

He wanted to bring it to theaters so that everyone could watch it together. If it went straight to streaming, he knew it would be less of a family event.

Director Eric Appel said, “Some of my best memories going to the theater with my parents when I was a kid were sitting there and seeing them laugh and me laugh, and we’re all laughing at the same thing and then talking about it on the car ride home, and I haven’t seen a family comedy like this for 10, 15 years.”

Bargatze’s co-star, Mandy Moore, said the key element that keeps families together through hardships is communication.

“Staying on the same page,” she added, “and recognizing that someone’s going to have to give a little bit more take a little bit more at certain times. There just is a natural ebb and flow to the evolution of any relationship.”

Bargatze knew he had to pull on his Christian upbringing as he developed his idea for the movie.

“I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of stuff, and so that was a big inspiration for even making this movie,” he said.

Another inspiration was not knowing where his own daughter’s school was or what bus she took.

“I mean, that was a real example that I’ve talked [about in] my standup where I got a call asking what bus my daughter was supposed to be on when she was in elementary school,” he recalled. “I didn’t even know what to do.”

“I asked them why. I go, ‘Why did you call me? I would think you would go call the wife first.’ And they said they tried. And I go, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. She’s on a yellow one, so just throw her on one, and I’ll go find her.’”

THE BREADWINNER comes out in theaters on May 29.

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